Keystone Today

On November 29, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced that Coterra Energy Inc. pleaded no contest to environmental crime charges in Northeastern Pennsylvania, which requires the company to pay $16.29 million to build a new public water supply in Susquehanna County.

“Residents of Dimock have waited far too long for the clean water Pennsylvania’s Constitution is supposed to guarantee all of us,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a press conference in Susquehanna County. “Today, Coterra, the corporate successor of Cabot Oil and Gas, took full responsibility for the crimes Cabot committed that polluted resident’s water. Under this historic settlement, Coterra will now pay to build a new public water line that will provide clean, reliable drinking water for generations to come.”

According to a release by the AG’s office, the company, which is formerly known as Cabot Oil and Gas, was charged in 2020 after a Grand Jury investigation into the contamination of well water in Dimock, a township located in Susquehanna County. Through the investigation, it was found that there was methane pollution in the water supply due to the company’s actions during drilling and producing unconventional gas wells. This led to residents of Dimock suffering impacts to their water supplies, and even involved the Norma Fiorentino’s drink water well to explode in January 2009.

Coterra entered a plea to Prohibition Against Discharge of Industrial Wastes, which is a violation of the Clean Streams Law. The company not only needs to pay for the new water line to be built but also needs to pay 75 years of water bills for homeowners who were impacted. Money will also be used to provide homeowners with treatment systems and water supplies, as well as bottled water while the public water line is being built.

Pennsylvania American Water Company, which serves about 19% of Pennsylvania, will be overseeing the construction and operation of the project.

“This agreement brings justice to the residents of Dimock who for years had been ignored,” said AG Shapiro. “People across the country remember what happened here in Dimock, and now, they will know the rule of law won the day. Companies will take notice that we won’t allow communities like this to be taken advantage of or forgotten.”